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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-07-22
CONTENTS
[01] President declines to convey Parliament speaker's objections to
prior actions bill
[02] PM Alexis Tsipras to meet Parliament President at noon on Thursday
[03] Government sources deny rumours of 'extra' prior actions
[01] President declines to convey Parliament speaker's objections to
prior actions bill
ANA-MPA -- President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos on
Wednesday replied to a letter sent to him by Parliament President Zoi
Konstantopoulou, declining her request to inform his counterparts that
proper Constitutional procedures had not been followed in the case of
the draft bill on prior actions tabled for approval in Parliament.
Pavlopoulos explained that the Constitution did not allow him to inform
his counterparts about the claims made in her letter, as she requested.
"First, the letter expresses your personal opinions, since there has been
no decision of the Parliament in this direction. There is no article
in the Constitution, nor in international and European practice, that
allows me to inform my Counterparts to this effect, especially when you
have the right, which as an esteemed jurist you know, to correspond with
them directly. "Secondly, even if it was a decision of the Parliament,
the president of the Republic would again, under the Constitution and
international and European practice, have no authority nor therefore
the means to convey such to his Counterparts. Given that in this case
also, the Hellenic Parliament is in no way prevented from addressing
them directly."
Parliament president denounces procedure followed for prior actions bill
in letters to PM, President
In letters sent to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and President of the
Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Wednesday, Parliament President Zoi
Konstantopoulou denounced the fast-track procedures following in the
processing of the second package of prior actions demanded by Greece's
creditors, as well as the form of the legislation, saying it flouted
Greece's Constitution. In her letter, she referred to a "violent
attack on democracy" and said this could not be allowed to happen in
the framework of the European Union, and especially not in silence.
She asked both the prime minister and the president to inform their
respective counterparts in Europe about the violations that had taken
place, adding that she would also inform her own counterparts in Europe.
Konstantopoulou especially emphasised the fact that the 977-page
draft legislation tabled at midnight on July 20 introduced more than
1,008 articles on the code of civil procedure and 130 related to the
Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) as two single articles,
preventing any modification or even time to read them properly, and
passing legislation that made major changes to justice and citizens'
rights under "conditions of open blackmail". Ministers were being forced
to bring legislation that they disagreed with so it could be passed
by MPs that also disagreed with its contents, under direct threat of
disorderly default, she said. Konstantopoulou also pointed out that
the same legislation dated back to the previous government and that
bar associations throughout the country held votes that rejected it
by percentages exceeding 93 pct in December 2014. The fact that the
particular legislation had been selected by the eurosummit governments
as a 'prior action' to start talks on a Greek bailout "reflects the
depths of these foreign governments' contempt for the principles of
parliamentary function, popular rule and finally democracy," she said.
[02] PM Alexis Tsipras to meet Parliament President at noon on Thursday
ANA-MPA -- Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will have a meeting with
Greece's Parliament President Zoi Konstantopoulou at his offices at
noon on Thursday, sources said.
Sources close to Konstantopoulou said the prime minister had agreed to
her request for a meeting to discuss the letter that she sent to both
Tsipras and to President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos, urging
them to inform their counterparts that the procedures followed in the
tabling of the bill for the prior actions demanded of Greece flouted
the Constitution.
In her letter, she referred to a "violent attack on democracy" and said
this could not be allowed to happen in the framework of the European
Union, and especially not in silence. She asked both the prime minister
and the president to inform their respective counterparts in Europe about
the violations that had taken place, adding that she would also inform
her own counterparts in Europe. Konstantopoulou especially emphasised
the fact that the 977-page draft legislation tabled at midnight on July
20 introduced more than 1,008 articles on the code of civil procedure
and 130 related to the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD)
as two single articles, preventing any modification or even time to
read them properly, and passing legislation that made major changes
to justice and citizens' rights under "conditions of open blackmail".
Ministers were being forced to bring legislation that they disagreed
with so it could be passed by MPs that also disagreed with its contents,
under direct threat of disorderly default, she said.
[03] Government sources deny rumours of 'extra' prior actions
ANA-MPA -- Government sources on Wednesday dismissed rumours that
Greece's creditors will demand additional prior actions in order to
begin talks on a third Greek bailout, pointing to statements made on
Wednesday by European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs
Pierre Moscovici.
The sources said the rumorus were part of an attempt to cultivate a
negative political climate for the government, and noted Moscovici's
statement that the measures that Greece has to pass in Parliament for
talks with the institutions to begin are only those listed in the Eurozone
summit announcement of July 12.
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